Diving with…Margot Watson and Rob Slight, Kraken Diving, Scapa Flow

What is your name? 

Margot Watson and Rob Slight

What is the name of your business?

Kraken Diving

What is your role within the business?

We both run Kraken Diving and are instructors as well. Everything from the admin to teaching to rinsing.

How long has the business operated for?

We opened in 2020, as Scapa Scuba decided to stop running the school side of their business in 2019.

How long have you dived for, and what qualification are you?

Margot – I got my Open Water in 2017 and am now a Master Scuba Diver Trainer.

Rob – I started diving around 2005/2006 and am also a Master Scuba Diver Trainer.

What is your favorite type of diving?

Margot – I love wreck diving, how could I not up here, but I do love how the wrecks become natural reefs so all the life surrounds them as well.

Rob – very much a wreck head!

If you could tell people one thing about your business (or maybe more!) to make them want to visit you what would it be?

No matter which site we are diving, there are wrecks to see. We take all levels of divers from Try and Dives to Tec – experiencing the WW1 and WW2 Blockships at the Churchill Barriers and the WW1 German High Seas Fleet that Orkney is known for.

What is your favorite dive in your location and why?

That is such a tricky question to answer. Every year the wrecks change, they have been in the water over 100 years now. But the SMS Coln has to be up there, the bow is still beautifully in tact (as I write this) and usually covered in life, plenty to see even with a 30m limit.

What types of diving are available in your location?

Shore diving with a max depth of 11m around the Blockships and wreck diving in Scapa Flow.

What do you find most rewarding about your current role?

When you get someone who gets hooked into diving and you see them progress in their skills and love doing it at the some time is so rewarding. Or when you start teaching someone who struggles with a certain skill at the start of their time with you then smash it out the park by the end of their time/course with you.

What is your favorite underwater creature?

Although I barely ever get to see them, I love whales. We get a few up here and although I haven’t encountered them under the water, orcas are impressive creatures to see.

Is your center involved in any environmental work?

As much as we can, we do Dive Against Debris days and try to clear out as much rubbish as we can. Regularly while on the shore we do beach cleans to stop any more rubbish getting back into the ocean. If there are local events happening, we do our best to take part in those. As a company we are just trying to be conscious of our decisions and how that would affect the plant, one of things we do to offset our carbon footprint by investing in Seagrass forests.

Are there any exciting changes / developments coming up in the near future?

At the moment we are very much a seasonal centre (running from end of April to the end of September) because the weather in the winter months are so unpredictable, but we’d love to try and extend that by offering other courses such as the Instructor course or work with the locals to get the next generation excited about the ocean. We are constantly trying to think of new ideas to get people wanting to look after and experience what is in the water.

How do you see the SCUBA / Freediving / snorkeling industry overall? What changes would you make?

We are at a really exciting point where people are realising that we need to look after the ocean and people who dive/snorkel are at the forefront of that and can do massive things to help promote what we need to change and how we can make a difference. I would love dive centres around the world to promote the idea of seeing, no touching. Pointing things out to customers without ever disturbing or moving the creatures we see.

Finally, what would you say to our visitors to promote the diving you have to offer?

Scapa Flow is on many divers bucket list, but there is a reputation of having to be tec level to see it, it’s not the case. To see the German High Seas Fleet we ask for people to be Advanced Open Water with Dry Suit certified, so a huge chunk of divers can come to see for themselves. Orkney is a major playground for divers, well anyone that loves the water.

Where can our visitors find out more about your business? (This is where you enter your contact details and any specific details on how our audience can reach you)

Our website is full of information about the range of courses we offer (www.krakendiving.co.uk) and you can follow up on Instagram or Facebook to see what we get up to. If you fancy chatting to us about a possible trip you are wanting to do, we can absolutely do that as well (07933492349).